“The trick to getting chocolate fondants right is knowing your oven as they can difer so dramatically. I recommend using an oven thermometer for all of your cooking and baking, but especially when making these. It can be quite surprising how diferent the thermometer may read to that of which your dial is set. If you don’t have a thermometer it would be a good idea to test bake one fondant before cooking the whole batch – you can then adjust the baking time if needs be. And remember, peering into the oven biting your nails really isn’t necessary, they will work! “

makes 8 fondants

Use 8 small 180ml (6 oz) non-stick pudding moulds

150g (51⁄2oz) dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

200g (7oz) milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

50g (13⁄4oz/31⁄2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened

140g (5oz/scant 3⁄4 cup) caster (super fine) sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)

60g (2oz/1⁄2 cup) plain (all- purpose) flour

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/gas 7 and place a baking sheet inside. Grease the insides of each pudding mould and place a disc of non-stick baking paper in the bottom of each.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl sat upon a pan of simmering water. When melted, remove from the heat and start to make the batter.

Cream together the butter and sugar using a free-standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the eggs in a separate jug, adding the vanilla if using. Slowly add the eggs to the butter and sugar, continuing to mix as you do so, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needs be. Once all of the eggs are in, sieve over the flour and give a very brief mix, just until the our has been combined. Add the melted chocolate, then stir together using a spatula until all of the chocolate has been evenly incorporated and the batter is smooth.

Pour or spoon the batter equally between the moulds, place each on the pre-heated baking tray sheet and cook for 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the fondants in the moulds to rest for 1 minute.

To turn out, place an inverted plate on top of the mould and carefully turn over, lift off the mould and remove the piece of baking paper that will be on top of each fondant. Serve straight away.

Who would have thought that tahini ( ground sesame seed paste) and maple syrup could taste this good? Today I made my first raw food dessert – raw caramel slice from Vladia Cobrdova’s “A Whole New Way To Eat.”

I love the base- dates and almonds, the caramel – basically tahini, coconut oil and maple syrup and the choc top – mostly just cocoa and coconut oil. YUM. A little goes a long way – but make sure you keep this in the fridge. The recipe states this will keep for up to three weeks in an airtight container in the fridge, which is good because this recipe made a huge amount. If you are down this way – pop in for a coffee and a taste.

You can sweeten the cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon icing sugar if you wish. I choose not to as the pavlova itself is very sweet.Banoffee Pavlova Roulade
Serves 10–12 Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes
8 eggwhites
2 cups caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
600 ml thickened cream, whipped
4 ripe bananas, sliced ½ cm thickFor the caramel sauce
125 g butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup thickened creamFor the candied macadamias
½ cup macadamia nut pieces
¼ cup icing sugar1 Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 26 x 34 cm baking tray with baking paper.2 In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar a little bit at a time, whipping continually, until the sugar is
dissolved and stiff peaks have formed.3 Sprinkle over the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and gently fold through the
egg whites until combined. Do this very gently so as not to knock the air out of
the mixture. Spread the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes
or until just firm.4 When the meringue comes out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle a fresh sheet of baking paper with cornflour and lay over the top of
the meringue. Lay a clean tea towel on the bench, and carefully invert the
baking dish so that the meringue comes out on top of the baking paper and
on top of the tea towel. Carefully remove the baking paper from the bottom
of the meringue.5 Spread half the cream in a line along the long edge of the meringue closest to
you. Press half the sliced bananas into the cream. Now the fun part: carefully,
using the tea towel as a helping hand, roll the meringue over the cream until
it looks like a log. Carefully lift onto the serving plate, putting the join at the
bottom.6For the caramel sauce, heat a large frypan over medium heat and melt the
butter and brown sugar together. Add the cream to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring, for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool (at room temperature – don’t refrigerate).7For the candied macadamias, place the nuts and icing sugar in a fry pan over medium-high heat. Stir until the icing sugar melts and turns golden. Stir to coat evenly and tip the mixture onto a tray lined with baking paper. Allow to cool and bash gently with the base of a glass or a rolling pin to crush just a little.

8 Immediately before serving, spread the remaining cream over the roulade. Spread the remaining banana over the top, drizzle generously with caramel sauce and sprinkle with the macadamias.

“The combination of warm, slightly tart fruit and crunchy, biscuity crumble is universally loved – and how about those bits where the fruit’s juices have bubbled up around the edges of the topping and gone jammy and toffee-ish? Oh, stop it right now. With a few different crumble recipes up your sleeve, you’ll never be at a loss for a fail-safe, make-ahead dessert at any time of the year – we’ve often used frozen fruit when there’s been nothing else available and it’s been just fine.

Make ahead: Both the fruit filling and the topping can be made ahead and will keep for 3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. Just keep the filling and topping in separate tubs till you are ready to fill your ovenproof dish for baking.” (p.247)

Ingredients

75 g (23/4 oz/1/2 cup) self-raising flour

100 g (31/2 oz/1/2 cup lightly packed) light brown sugar

pinch of salt

50 g (13/4 oz) cold salted butter, diced into 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes

50 g (13/4 oz/1/2 cup) rolled (porridge) oats

Method

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Rub the butter into the mix with your fingertips till the mixture resembles clumpy breadcrumbs. Stir through the rolled oats.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Combine the basic crumble topping with the almonds and set aside.
Place the rhubarb and sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and cook gently over low heat for about 15 minutes till the rhubarb is completely soft. Add the strawberries and bring everything up to heat. Pour your filling into a greased ovenproof dish of about 1.5 litres (52 fl oz/6 cups) capacity. Scatter the topping over your filling to cover.
Cook in the oven for 25–30 minutes till the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling up round the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving with cream or ice cream.

When I first got the BakeClass cook book I was attracted to the picture and recipe for Lemon Tart, I just needed an excuse to make it. As the lemon tree is offering up a few lemons at the moment and with visitors coming over for dinner I thought this is a great opportunity to try this recipe.

I made the sweet shortcrust pastry in my food processor – so easy and quick. Next bake blind – then pour the lemon mixture in and finish cooking- easy- and the taste – tangy lemon – perfect with cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

“Here is a variation on the mascarpone cream usually used in tiramisù — a light, rose-scented sabayon. Very girly! It’s made here with pretty Roses de Reims biscuits, a French biscuit coloured pink with cochineal, but ladyfingers are an ideal substitute.” Laura Zavan

20 minutes preparation time

10 minutes cooking time

2 hours refrigeration time

Makes 6 glasses

250 g (9 oz) mascarpone cheese

50 ml (1¾ fl oz) rose syrup

100 ml (3½ fl oz) thickened (whipping) cream

12 ladyfinger or savoiardi biscuits

100 ml (3½ fl oz) rosewater

200 g (7 oz) raspberries, to decorate

For the sabayon

3 egg yolks

50 g (1¾ oz) raw (demerara) sugar

100 ml (3½ fl oz) rosewater

To make the sabayon, beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with the sugar and rosewater. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering (not boiling) water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water, and beat for about 10 minutes using an electric beater, until the mixture has a mousse-like consistency. Let the mixture cool, stirring from time to time.

Combine the mascarpone with the rose syrup, then gently fold the mixture into the sabayon. In a separate bowl, whip the cream and add it to the sabayon mixture.

Place 2 tablespoons of sabayon cream in each serving glass. Moisten the biscuits with the rosewater and place them on top (about 2 biscuits per glass). Cover with more sabayon cream.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Decorate with the raspberries before serving.